13 Dec 2006 Sarbanes-Oxley: Secret Costs?

Senior Fellow Tom Borelli and his Free Enterprise Action Fund partner Steve Milloy ask an important question: “What if someone threw a Sarbanes-Oxley reform party and no one from Wall Street showed up?”

It’s not an idle question. Tom and Steve filed shareholder proposals with at least four Wall Street firms, including Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Merrill Lynch, asking them to report to shareholders about the costs they incur complying with Sarbanes-Oxley.

They describe what they’ve learned as a result about the costs of Sarbanes-Oxley in a December 11 op-ed in the New York Sun.

One hint to what you’ll find in the op-ed: Two of the Wall Street firms petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission to get permission to ignore Tom’s and Steve’s SOX information request.

Say Tom and Steve: “If our experience is indicative of Wall Street’s interest in seeking [Sarbanes-Oxley reforms], we may be shackled with SOX and other unnecessary market regulatory burdens for some time to come.”